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The Milwaukee Brewers are about to do something unprecedented. Reports have surfaced that they are expected to lock up prospect Jackson Chourio to an eight-year, $80 million contract. That kind of deal is not altogether shocking, since teams hand out mega contracts every offseason. What is shocking is the fact that the recipient has never played MLB baseball.
Not only has Chourio not played for the Brewers themselves, he hasn't even made it to their AAA affiliate. He's hardly played any baseball above the AA level. That's not surprising for a 19-year-old prospect, but it is surprising that he's being offered such a contract with that status.
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Talkin' Baseball reported on X, formerly known as Twitter:
"The Brewers are close to a deal to extend 19-year-old CF prospect Jackson Chourio. Chourio has only played 6 games above AA. This will be the richest contract ever for a player who has not reached the big leagues yet."
No MLB prospect has ever been given a bigger contract. Generally speaking, teams leave their prospects in the minors to accumulate service time to extend their contract once they do make it to the big leagues. The Brewers seem to be foregoing all of that and extending him much sooner than anyone else.
Fans aren't sure what to make of this move.
Fans mock Brewers over Jackson Chourio report
Fans pointed out that it seems as if the Milwaukee Brewers are employing the Atlanta Braves strategy. Atlanta has locked up a lot of their young talent, and they did it far earlier than most teams have in the past.
They signed Ronald Acuna Jr. to an eight-year deal in 2019. A similar tactic was used on Ozzie Albies. They traded for Matt Olson and immediately signed him to an extension before he even played in Spring Training.
The Brewers have ratcheted that strategy all the way up. If it works out, they are geniuses who will get extra years of a top prospect for cheaper than they otherwise would.
If it fails, and no prospect is a sure thing, then they will have spent $80 million on someone who won't make an impact on their roster.
